back to base

We arrived at Andrew's house after a 5 hour drive.

We inspected the damage and were not best impressed. We learnt we had a lot of work to do in the 4 days we would be staying here. First things first, food. Just down the road is a sonic, a classic drive in serving fast food and my favourite ever ice creams. We then made our way to his storage unit where all his belongings are kept that he didn't bring to the UK. We needed to pick up some cleaning supplies to fix the house and Andrew wanted to check up on his guns...

  

The next day we got up kind of late and stopped at one of Andrew's friends house to catch up. He was no where to be seen but we talked to his wife a lot and played with their dogs. Just as we were about to head out, Andrew realised his friend BJ was sleeping the whole time so he went in to wake him up and we continued to share stories and hang out. Eventually we realised we should get going to pick up more cleaning supplies for the house. I knew this was going to be a long shopping trip so I opted for a trip to the nail salon and then to Starbucks while Andrew got everything he wanted. 

After we went to eat at Walk Ons sports bar and then he wanted to show me a Bass Pro sporting goods store. Honestly, you could have fooled me that this was more of a museum. Even the gators in the pen out the front really set the vibe.

Afterwards, we drove to the outside of the air force base where Andrew worked before he came out to England. There is a Global Power museum you can see from the road which is a collection of vintage aircraft. Following a final stop at Walmart and Kroger where we picked up some drinks and snacks, we made it back to the house. We'd pretty much been out for the whole day so we decided the best move would be to get some sleep and then get up early and get cracking.

The next day I got up and cleaned the kitchen while Andrew went to pick up the lawnmower from BJ. I set to work cleaning the cupboards, drawers, fridge, oven let's just say it was not left in the condition it was found. The food and rubbish left behind in the cupboards and fridge confirmed this. I mean there was rubbish left everywhere. Some personal highlights included: a GI Joe on the roof, broken windows (in an attempt to get the toys on the roof?!), 15ft trampoline, pee stained mattress, countless broken toys inside and outside and, finally, breastmilk frozen into the bottom of the freezer. I moved on to cleaning all the carpets while Andrew worked on the outside. Later on, the new tenant called in to see the house. This put Andrew a bit more at ease and she seemed really nice and laidback and he was pleased to be able to meet her and talk to her about the house. Soon after she left, we had been invited to BJ and Kelsey's for dinner where she made black bean burgers which were so good! I played with the kids a lot and then we sat and hung out all night which was so nice! There was also some good news that their parrot Mochi had been found and returned home after flying away the day before.

 

The next day, after a bit more work cleaning the house, we went out into town. Andrew took me to a western clothing store where I tried on some cowboy boots!

 

We stopped at Canes for food which is chicken place so I called into Taco Bell after and then we had to get back to work. I continued working inside (thankful for air conditioning) and Andrew worked outside cleaning the gutters and cutting down branches from the big oak tree. By this time it was getting late and we also had to do some laundry so we went out to a laundromat which was more exciting than it sounds. The washers were huge!! And we got free tumble drying as a bonus. Even met some interesting people. And by that I mean "interesting".

 

We woke up on our final day in Louisiana and needed to pack everything up to get the house as clear as possible to do the final floor and bathroom clean. We had to take all of the supplies we bought back to the storage unit so we have them ready for next time we will be back including the air mattress and bedding which Andrew's grandmother got for us. Just before we left to do this, Andrew got a call saying that both of the guns he had ordered had arrived to the gun shop so we was excited to pick them up. I was more interested in playing with the gun shop dog.

We got some food from Wendy's on the way back and I packed up the car while Andrew mopped the floors. On our way out, we let the new tenant know that the house was ready for her and we called in to BJ's house again to say bye. He was out picking the kids up from school so we hung out there talking to Kelsey and her sister. BJ and the kids got back so we made sure to spend some time with them and then we had to get going. We went onto the air force base and Andrew showed me all around, where he used to live, where he worked, etc. We went shopping at the bx and drove past the vintage aircraft again to get a closer look.

Andrew then took me to hobby lobby which I hadn't been to yet. I picked up some more scrapbooking materials and then we knew we had to get on the road to Texas. I vowed to stay awake as I knew we were driving late but honestly I think I saw about 25 minutes of the 4 hour journey, woops. Anyway we made it pretty easy and were ready for bed by then! Keep an eye out for what we get up to in Texas!